


The One with Christmas Gone-Wrong

by LMPsisterhood



Series: True Beauty Love: A Rhiannon Series [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Angst, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, First Christmas, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 06:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13184187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LMPsisterhood/pseuds/LMPsisterhood
Summary: Starting with much ribbing and a sick baby, Snow goes into labour, leaving Emma, Henry and Killian to finish cooking Christmas dinner. Everyone ends up at the hospital, where everyone learns that Snow has had a complication in her delivery. The little epilogue at the end reveals what the new little one’s name is and a happy beginning for another new year.





	The One with Christmas Gone-Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, my lovelies, for not posting this sooner. Life sometimes gets in the way. At least it wasn't as late as my Halloween one. Hope everyone had a Happy Christmas! Enjoy!

**The One with Christmas Gone-Wrong**

 Regina sat in her living room with Snow and Zelena across from her on the sofa. She watched her daughter as she played with her cousin Robin, who was playing so nicely with her almost 11-month-old baby cousin beneath the Christmas tree. Robin had just turned two herself just this past autumn. Neal was shaking the presents, trying to figure out which ones were for him.

Regina murmured something about what they were going to name the unborn child, not fully paying attention to Snow as she had been consumed with worry for her daughter most of the day. Henry was in the kitchen, patiently waiting for his mother and grandpa to join him. Emma had sent Killian back to their house to get the presents they had forgotten to bring with them. Regina finally heard Snow White ribbing her wife.

“Well, I want to name him Basil,” Snow smirked as her wife rolled her eyes.

Zelena huffed and firmly bit out, “I will not name my child after an herb I refuse to eat. Will you just get over that name, already?”

Regina smiled at the over reaction from her sister, but she could see that Snow was having fun at her expense. Rhiannon pulled at her ear, looked up from the floor and her mommy smiled at her and then turned back to her cousin Robin who was offering her a toy.

“The other two I like are Leopold and Corban, but we can’t seem to make up our minds.” Snow said in all seriousness.

“Isn’t Neal’s middle name Leopold?” Emma asked. David nodded to her question as they both made their way back to the kitchen to help Henry with dinner.

“Exactly,” Zelena exclaimed, “so I vote we name him Felix Corban,” and then murmuring under her breath, “and no more discussion about naming him Leopold or Basil.”

Snow snickered to herself and then put on a straight face as Zelena turned at the sound, “I will not give up hope that you will name him Basil Felix Mills-White. I will concede to Leopold as it is Neal’s middle name, but there is always hope.”

Rhiannon pulled at her ear again and Zelena ignored her wife’s comment to click her tongue at her little niece’s pained expression. Regina followed her sightline and reached to pick her child up, kissing her forehead. She rose from her seat and went in search of the thermometer as her daughter’s forehead felt a little warm. She slipped it under Rhiannon’s armpit, holding her arm still as she started to fidget. When the thermometer beeped, Regina saw that it read 38.9 degrees Celsius.

Regina held her daughter close on her hip as she walked to the kitchen. “Henry,” she called out. She rounded the corner into her kitchen to see Emma, Henry and David doing various tasks to create Christmas dinner. She shook her head in wonder as her brows rose that Emma was trying to cook. “How far along into the dinner are we? How much longer?”

David looked up with concern and replied, “Less than an hour now, Sweetheart. Why?”

“Rhiannon has a high temperature and is pulling at her ear. I think we may need to take her to the hospital.” Regina explained to her fiancé.

David caressed over his daughter’s cheek and pursed his lips at the heat that radiated off it. Emma looked up and exclaimed, “You can’t leave now! What if something goes wrong with the turkey? You’re the only one I trust to fix it.”

Regina shook her head in consternation at the hopelessness of Henry’s other mother. “My daughter is much more important to me than dinner. We’ll salvage what we can if we get back in time.”

Henry turned to his mom and sister, placing his hand across her forehead and then placed a kiss on it. “She’s really hot. I bet we won’t be able to eat dinner all together for a couple days.” As he turned back to the dinner, he stated, “You better get going. We’ll finish up here.”

Regina made her way back into the living room to make her excuses to her sister and her wife. “Well, I need to take Rhiannon …”

Snow gasped sharply and leaned forward, reaching her arms around her extended belly. Regina’s brows furrowed and Zelena turned with an expression of concern washing over her face. Snow was doing her Lamaze breathing and Zelena started to coach her through it.

Snow looked up at Regina with lament, “I’m sorry, I think my water just broke.”

Zelena jumped up from her seat and magicked herself home for a few minutes to get their valise for the hospital. Green smoke dispersed and Zelena reappeared, reaching around her wife’s shoulders to boost her up and head out the door to their car.

Regina looked at her sofa in disgust. She was going to have to throw it out and buy a whole new one now. There was no way she could clean that up. She curled her nose and turned toward the door herself, readying her daughter to go the hospital. David hurried out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. He grabbed his coat and his niece Robin, leaving Neal for Emma and Henry to bring after they had finished with dinner and putting it away for later.

Killian strode through the door just in time to see Regina and David heading out, so he held the door open. He dropped the bag of gifts unceremoniously in the hallway and headed to the kitchen, walking up behind the little lad, Neal. The little boy looked up into the face of the pirate and giggled. “What’s going on? I just saw Zelena and Snow zooming off. And as I walked in, Regina and David were heading out.”

Emma looked up in surprise, and asked, “What’s wrong with my mom?”

She turned in search of her phone, wiping her hands on her thighs, she picked up her phone from off the island, sending off a text. Within a short time, she received one back from Snow stating that she was on her way to the hospital because her little brother Basil was making his way into the world. “Oh, fuck,” she murmured.

“What’s wrong, Ma?” Henry inquired, his eyes getting wider in worry.

“Your grandma’s in labor and your mom and grandpa are heading to the hospital because Rhiannon has a fever and possible ear infection.” She rubbed her middle finger and thumb over her temples, and Killian reached over to wrap her in an embrace, but she stood stiffly within the circle of his arms. She pushed away from her husband, took a deep breath and said resolutely, “Well, let’s finish up here and then put everything away, so we can go to the hospital.” She looked briefly at her little brother and smiled at him, “Soon you’ll have a little brother, what do you think of that, huh?”

Neal reached his arms out and Emma swung him into her arms. They rubbed noses and giggled together. Killian smiled at the sight and wished right then that everything was alright and that Emma wanted a little one of their own. He closed his eyes with a tight smile on his lips, taking a deep sigh, he looked up again. “Well, lets do this.”

Neal was set down on a stool to watch them as they finished with dinner and the three of them completed the potatoes, squash and Brussel sprouts, while Henry and Killian kept an eye on the turkey. Emma breathed a sigh of relief when the turkey came out looking all juicy and ready to eat. Killian removed the stuffing, carved a third of it and then packaged both sections up to put away in the fridge for later.

Henry and Emma finished up with the vegetables and then put them in containers for refrigerating. Emma found the bag of gifts in the hallway and went in search of a present she wanted to give Henry, Robin, Neal and Rhiannon, and then at the last minute grabbed one for Regina, Killian and her dad too. Her mom and step-mom would be too busy to worry about presents for now. She turned to see that Henry had Neal on his hip and a backpack of toys for the little ones as well.

She smiled at her son. He was growing so responsible. He would make a wonderful father someday. She panicked slightly, but knew it would happen whether she liked it or not. The four of them headed for the door and out to her yellow bug. It wasn’t really a family car, but it had always been good enough for her. She didn’t know what she would do if she ever had a bigger family. Probably get a Subaru Outback, yeah, they looked good. But she didn’t have a large family; she wasn’t thinking of adding to her family; and probably would never have another baby, not in a million years. She glared at Killian over her shoulder as she strapped her brother in the back seat.

They made it to the hospital in record time and walked over to Regina and David as they sat in the waiting room. “So, have you seen the doctor yet?”

“No,” Regina snapped. She was upset that even as the mayor she didn’t get precedence over emergencies. They had been waiting for almost an hour and Rhiannon was only getting more fussy. David was rubbing his fiancée’s back as they waited, hoping to sooth her agitation.

“I’m sure we’ll see the doctor soon,” David replied calmly.

Just as he made the comment the nurse called out Regina’s and Rhiannon’s name. With relief, Regina gathered her few belongings and carried her daughter into the room the nurse indicated. Dr. Whale walked in shortly there after.

“Well, hello Rhiannon, Regina, how may I help you today?” The doctor walked directly to the child, pulling his stethoscope at the ready. As Regina described her symptoms, Whale began his evaluation. Rhiannon was very good letting him look in her ears and taking her temperature. “Rhiannon does indeed have an ear infection. I’m going to prescribe a low dose of amoxicillin. You can also give her baby Tylenol to lower her temperature.” Then he turned his complete attention to the child, “You have been so good young lady. Was Santa good to you? What did you get for Christmas?”

Rhiannon started to babble and Regina smiled at her daughter. Turning to Whale, she said, “Thank you, Doctor, I appreciate your attention. Unfortunately, we had to put Christmas on hold as Rhiannon was sick and Snow went into labour.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m having a small get together tonight for some bachelor friends of mine. I’m thankful that the hospital was able to finally hire a couple more doctors, so that now I can have a life.” Whale smiled at Regina as he handed her the prescription for the amoxicillin. “Just get that filled at the pharmacy before you leave and make sure she finishes it, even when she starts to feel better. Take care.”

With that he left the room, and Regina gathered her daughter and her diaper bag and headed for the waiting room where she was sure she would find everyone else. As she suspected, there they were in various stages of relaxation, although the pirate looked like he was worked up about something. She placed her daughter in her daddy’s lap and said,

“I’m going to get this filled. I’ll be right back.”

David nodded as he played with his daughter and Regina headed towards the hospital pharmacy.

Snow walked out from the delivery room, just walking the corridor. She was doing her breathing with Zelena coaching her.

“Hey, Mom,” Emma called, “how are you? Everything going well?”

She finished out the contraction and then answered her daughter, “Everything is going well. Doctor tells me that, although I’m three weeks early, that everything looks well. I still have a little while before I’ll be fully dilated.” She paused for a moment and got this funny scrunchy face. Emma opened her mouth to speak, but Snow burst out with, “Would you like to join me in the delivery room?”

Emma felt stunned and slowly loosened her face up and spoke hesitantly at first, but more confident as she continued, “Yeah, yeah, sure. I would love to see the birth of my brother Basil.”

Zelena gave Emma a disgusted look and Emma chuckled at her reaction. Henry looked up from his videogame and gave Snow a smile, “Hey, Grandma, you look really good. Can’t wait to meet this next uncle! Take it slowly now.”

Snow cracked a grin and Emma chuckled as she recalled the presents she had tucked under her seat. “I better give these out before I go into the delivery room. I only brought one for each of you as I didn’t want you to feel like you couldn’t open at least on present today, especially you kid.”

Henry grinned sheepishly and replied, “I’m probably the biggest kid here, next to Grandpa.”

Everyone laughed as his joke including David, who gave him a light punch to the shoulder, “You better believe it.”

Neal walked over eagerly, begging, “I wanna present. I wanna present.”

Snow admonished, “What do you say, Neal?”

Neal looked up at his mother with wide eyes and remembered, “Pwease, I wanna open a present.”

“Good boy,” Emma praised. “Here you are.”

Robin didn’t want to be left out, reaching her hands up to her mommy. Neal said politely on receiving the package, “Tank yew.”

Robin carefully said to her mother, “Please, mommy.”

Emma’s face softened and found the package she had for her little step-sister. Robin’s face glowed as she took the rather large package and shrieked as she ripped the paper off the box. Neal already had shreds of paper all around him. He held the box with a new fire engine up to his father and asking,

“Open, pwease.”

David took the box in his hands and started to remove the tape to open the box. The little boy tried to climb up on his father’s lap while he was still trying to open the box for his young son. Regina came back at just this moment and panicked when she didn’t see her daughter in David’s arms. She took a quick breath of relief when she saw Rhiannon in Henry’s arms.

Robin tugged on Regina’s arm as she walked over to Henry and Zelena. “Look, Aunt-y Reg-ina, a pretty baby.”

She held out the box with a doll inside and Regina looked down at her niece, commenting, “Such a beautiful baby. I know you will take good care of her.”

Regina picked up her daughter and sat down with her to give her the first dose of her medication. Robin handed the box over to her mother and patiently waited for her baby to be handed to her. Zelena fumbled with the holding her daughter and opening the box, so Emma took the box from her and took the doll out. She handed the baby doll to her step-sister and Robin’s face lit-up as she held her baby in her arms.

Emma tucked the insert back in the box, so Zelena could take the doll’s accessories out at home later. Neal was screeching out the engine’s siren in a loud voice and had to be shushed by David.

Henry had opened the phone that Regina had agreed upon and kissed both his mothers, thanking them for trusting him. Immediately he put his game aside and started fiddling with the phone. Emma handed a gift both to her father and Regina, as well as the one for Rhiannon. Before she walked away, she set Hook’s gift beside him. Henry’s brows furrowed and he shut down the phone and stashed it in it in his pocket before pursuing his mother.

“Hey, Ma,” Henry called out and Emma came to a halt in front of the delivery room door. “Can I ask you a question?”

Emma smiled softly at her son and said, “Kid, you know you can ask me anything.”

“What’s wrong between you and Killian?”

Emma bit her lip and then face palmed herself. She took a deep sigh as her eyes closed, pondering how to answer. Finally, after a couple minutes, she spoke, “Henry,” she placed her arm around his shoulders, drawing him to her in a side hug, “sometimes couples go through a tough time when they first marry. We just need have a good talk with Dr. Hopper and sort some things out. Don’t worry about us. Everything will be fine soon, kid. I promise.”

Henry looked skeptically at his mother. He knew she was trying to hide something. He supposed that there were just some things he couldn’t know about as he was still a teenager. He hoped that everything would work itself out and his Ma wouldn’t get her heart broken once again. In the mean time, he would just have to keep his eyes on Killian. He would protect his mother at all costs. Resigned that he wasn’t going to get anymore information out of Emma, he conceded, “Okay, but promise me you’ll tell me whenever you need my help. I’m always here for you and I will always support you. I’m on your side, Ma.”

Emma pursed her lips and kissed his temple. “Thanks, kid, I needed to hear that. I’ll see you soon.”

She released her son and followed her mom and step-mom into the delivery room. Within the hour, Snow was fully dilated and was baring down to push her son into the world. Emma watched wide-eyed and fed her mother ice chips as she needed them. Zelena faithfully coached her wife through her breathing, anticipating the birth of their first child together, perhaps their only child. With one final push, his crown appeared and then his body as he burst forth into the bright room. He let out a loud cry as the lights glared down at him and he screamed forth his displeasure. A nurse gave him a quick rubdown with a cloth and then set him on Snow’s tummy. She beamed down on her precious baby boy, who already had red fuzz on the sides of his head.

Snow screeched as a she felt a slight trickling sensation coming out of her vagina and a tightening from inside her as a contraction swept over her. Zelena reached out to remove their son from her tummy and went to help Dr. Proudman with the cord.

A nurse gave Snow a quick evaluation, and then called out, “Doctor, I think you better see this.”

Another nurse took the baby from Zelena and she hurried over to her wife with the doctor. Emma stood stunned as the doctor confirmed the evaluation and proclaimed, “Snow, there is another child in there. It’s rather small and we’re not sure if there are any concerns. I wish we had seen this in the ultrasound as we could have taken care of the baby while in the womb. If this baby is not born in the next ten minutes, we’ll have to do a caesarean.”

A nurse went to tell Dr. Whale to get the surgery room ready just in case a C-section was necessary and Emma walked in the opposite direction towards the waiting room to give everyone the news that there was another baby on the way. The family voiced their concern about Snow’s condition and they all sat tensely, awaiting the news of the new baby.

Back in the delivery room, five minutes went by with a contraction coming every other minute, Snow struggled with her breathing and Dr. Proudman was not only concerned for the baby but for the mother too. She made a quick decision.

“Alright, things are just not looking good.” Dr. Proudman turned to her anesthesiologist and quietly they talked about the procedure. Dr. Bedi started talking Snow through the procedure of a spinal block as he went through each step. Snow’s breathing slowed and she calmed, knowing she was in good hands. Dr. Proudman stepped out momentarily to see how things were going in surgery.

Dr. Whale approached her and together they finished the prep for surgery. A few minutes later, Snow was slowly wheeled in and set into position. Zelena stood by her side. The curtain came down as the team assembled to quickly deliver the baby by C-section. Three minutes later, Snow heard a murmuring as Dr. Whale whispered that the baby wasn’t breathing.

Zelena looked down at her wife and the two held tightly to the other’s hand. Tears slowly tracked their way down Snow’s face and Zelena felt tears at the corner of her eyes. Neither knew that the team was working to diligently to bring life to their little one. Zelena leaned down to place kisses on her wife’s forehead, nose, cheeks and lips. She whispered encouragements in her wife’s ear. Snow wasn’t really listening to Zelena; all she could think was that she would never be able to get to know this little one. What name should she give him? Ashton flit through her mind as she remembered it meant peaceful.

Neither were aware that the team had turned back to work on closing the incision they had made to delivery the wee one, now on it’s way to the NICU. Once the sutures were finished, Dr. Proudman took down the curtain so she could give the new mommies the news.

Startled, Snow and Zelena looked wide-eyed at the doctor. Dr. Proudman gave them a reassuring smile and said, “Everything went well. She’s a little on the small side and will need to be monitored for the next few days. She is now in the NICU being given oxygen. You can stay with her if you wish and take care of your little boy near her. Your other children may visit, but please limit them to an hour, unless they are older. I suspect you may be able to take her home in a couple days as she is already over four pounds. She is 4.1 lbs to be exact. Your son was 5.11 lbs. He is healthy and ready to go home. When you are dressed, I will be back and will take you see your daughter.”

Snow and Zelena held each other for a few moments, letting the happy tears fall down their cheeks. Zelena placed a chaste kiss on Snow’s lips and helped her wife to dress. Dr. Proudman wheeled in a wheelchair a few minutes later and took the two mommies to the NICU. Emma joined them again, finding out what had happened in during the surgery. The small family entered the room and saw their little girl in an incubator.

Emma looked down misty eyed at her new little sister, looking at the tuffs of black hair over her head. She turned to her mother, reached to give her hug, which Snow stepped into. Giving Snow a kiss on her cheek, she stepped into the hall to find the rest of the family to let them know what was going on. She stopped the tiny crib being rolled to the NICU and looked down on her little brother. Would he be named Basil or Felix? She didn’t know, but hoped it wouldn’t be too long before the family could be together and everyone could find out. She made her way out to the waiting room so that everyone could go home as quickly as she gave them the information.

**Epilogue**

It was two days after Boxing Day and the family was assembled in Zelena’s and Snow’s living room. The children were playing quietly under the Christmas tree with their new toys and the adults chatted quietly among themselves.

“So,” Emma started, “what are you going to name them?”

“Well, first of all, unlike what we did with Neal,” Snow looked briefly at David, “Zelena insisted on a private name ceremony. After all, we are trying to take things slowly and carefully.” Looking at her wife’s reaction, as both were still unsure what to name their son, Snow proudly announced, “I would like to introduce to you our son, Felix Corban Mills-White.”

“Really?” Zelena awed. Snow nodded with a bright smile on her face. Zelena nuzzled her nose against her wife’s cheek. Zelena smiled happily down at their son in her arms.

Snow continued, “Unfortunately, we can’t decide what to name our little girl. We were hoping you might have some suggestions. I have always liked Amelia myself, but Zelena knew a girl with that name once and refuses to name our daughter that, so I’m at a loss.”

Zelena hopefully mentioned, “I like the name Clementina. There’s a certain charm to the name and it’s softer with the ‘a’ at the end.”

Snow’s head tilted in consideration, but turned to look at her former step-mother when Regina spoke up, “Eleanora is a pretty name. You could always nickname her Nora, which as become a rather popular modern name. She looks like an Eleanora to me, somehow.”

Everyone turned to look at the black-haired babe in Snow’s arms. She lay peacefully in her mommy’s arms. Snow carefully touched her tiny index finger, sliding her thumb over her tiny nails. Emma cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her as she voiced her suggestion.

“Well,” Emma spoke softly, unsure whether her mother would really take her suggestion seriously, “I always liked the name Rayne, spelled R-a-y-n-e. Although, now that I mention it, it sounds silly. My mother’s name is Snow White and my sister’s name is Rayne.”

Everyone laughed, but Snow, who gave her daughter a kind expression. Despite the weather insinuation, she too liked the name and wanted to include Emma in the selection of the name. Clementina Rayne or Eleanora Rayne, which sounded better? Both names delighted Snow, maybe she would have to trust her wife to chose the better selection.

“Well, Zelena, which sounds better to you, Clementina Rayne or Eleanora Rayne?” Snow looked hopefully at her wife. Zelena gave her a distressed expression.

“You’re depending on me to name our baby?” Snow gave her a troubled look. Zelena understood that Snow liked both names too and wanted help on the matter, so she pondered.

“Even though both names are beautiful,” Henry interrupted, “I always thought you would name another girl Evie Ruth or something similar.”

Snow and Zelena’s expressions turned from slow deliberation to a new awakening. Snow’s mouth slightly hung open. They looked excitedly at each other and then a light dawned on Snow’s face. She turned to David, and asked, “Is that alright with you, David?”

David beamed at the little girl in Snow’s arms. He couldn’t be more pleased that Snow still considered using his mother’s name. He squeezed Regina’s hand as he gave a nod of assent. Snow squared her shoulders as she clasped her wife’s hand, giving her a nod.

Zelena smiled at her nephew, kissing the air before she announced, “Everyone, I’m pleased to introduce our daughter Evie Ruth.”

A round of applause went through the room giving Mills-White clan their agreement. Shortly thereafter, the family scurried off to the dining room to finish off the Christmas feast they still hadn’t eaten. There was much laughter around the table and the children eagerly ate their dinner, so they could get back to playing with their new toys they had just opened that morning. Each was aware of the anticipation that lay just below the surface of what these new little ones would bring to the family, as well as what lay ahead in the new year.  


End file.
